Robert E. Lee junior Hannah Smitherman (4) glances over her shoulder during a game Tuesday at Varsity Gym. The Lady Raiders finished second in their pool Thursday at the Tyler Invitational and will compete Saturday in the Gold Bracket. (Chelsea Purgahn/Tyler Morning Telegraph/File)

The Rusk Lady Eagles are in contention to win the Tyler Invitational volleyball tournament thanks to Rusk outdoing Longview, Paris North Lamar and Nacogdoches to finish in first place in Pool A.

It was one of four Pools that competed Thursday on Day 1 of the event held on the campuses of John Tyler and Robert E. Lee High School.

The other pool winners on Day 1 were Hallsville, Beckville and Pleasant Grove.

Day 2 of pool play is Friday with co-host John Tyler on the court, along Tyler area teams Bishop Gorman, All Saints, Bullard and Whitehouse.

All first-place teams after Thursday and Friday’s pool play move into the championship bracket with bracket play on Saturday. Second place moves into the Gold Bracket, third place into the Silver Bracket and fourth place into the Bronze Bracket.

The Tyler Invitational championship game is scheduled for Saturday at 6 pm. at the Lions Den at JTHS.

Co-host REL competed in pool play Thursday and finished second in Pool C, behind Beckville. The Lady Raiders will be in the Gold Bracket on Saturday.

Lee began the day by rallying from a set down to defeat Sulphur Springs 2-1 (20-25, 25-21, 25-15) in their opener in Pool C. Next up was Beckville. Lee again dropped the first game, 25-18. The Lady Raiders attempted to pull off another comeback, but fell short 26-24 in the second game to lose 2-0. Lee bounced back to defeat Tatum in two games (25-19, 25-15) and clinch second place in the pool.

Tatum was third and Sulphur Springs finished fourth in Pool C.

In Pool B, Chapel Hill lost its opener to Hallsville (25-10, 25-18) before rebounding to defeat Henderson (25-15, 25-17). The Lady Bulldogs were stopped by Nacogdoches Central Heights (25-15, 25-18) to finish third overall in the pool. Central Heights was second and Henderson fourth.

In Pool A, first place came down to the final pool play match between Longview and Rusk. Both were 2-0 with Rusk defeating North Lamar in three games (25-19, 25-27, 25-22) and Nacogdoches (25-8, 25-17), and Longview getting past North Lamar (25-14, 25-21) and Nacogdoches (25-12, 25-13). In their winner-take-all finale, Rusk jumped ahead 1-0 after outlasting the Lady Lobos 27-25 in Game 1. Longview fired back to run away with Game 2, 25-10.

In the decider, the Lady Eagles proved to be too much, winning 25-20 to take first place in the pool. Longview goes into the Gold bracket in second place with North Lamar (defeated Nacogdoches 25-20, 25-17) into the Silver bracket as the third-place finisher. Nacogdoches finished fourth and will be in the Bronze Bracket.

In Pool D, Pleasant Grove survived a scare from Mabank to win the pool, defeating New Diana (25-14, 25-14) and Marshall (25-9, 25-9). Against Mabank, PG dropped the first game, but rallied back to win the next two (17-25, 25-20, 25-16). New Diana was second thanks to defeating Marshall (25-17, 25-10) and Mabank (25-17, 25-20). Mabank was third thanks to its 25-16, 25-15 win over Marshall, which finished fourth.

 

2017 Tyler Invitational

At John Tyler High School (JTHS)

and Robert E. Lee High School (REL)

FRIDAY’S SCHEDULE

Pool E (at Lion’s Den, JTHS)

John Tyler vs. Jefferson, 12:30 p.m.

New Boston vs. Harmony, 1:45 p.m.

New Boston vs. Jefferson, 3 p.m.

John Tyler vs. Harmony, 4:15 p.m.

John Tyler vs. New Boston, 5:30 p.m.

Harmony vs. Jefferson, 6:45 p.m.

Pool F (at JV Gym, JTHS)

Bishop Gorman vs. Van, 12:30 p.m.

Bullard vs. Alba-Golden, 1:45 p.m.

Bullard vs. Van, 3 p.m.

Bishop Gorman vs. Alba-Golden, 4:15 p.m.

Bishop Gorman vs. Bullard, 5:30 p.m.

Alba-Golden vs. Van, 6:45 p.m.

Pool G (at Varsity Gym, REL)

Pine Tree vs. Mesquite Poteet, 12:30 p.m.

Grace vs. Quitman, 1:45 p.m.

Grace vs. Mesquite Poteet, 3 p.m.

Pine Tree vs. Quitman, 4:15 p.m.

Pine Tree vs. Grace, 5:30 p.m.

Mesquite Poteet vs. Quitman, 6:45 p.m.

Pool H (at K Gym, REL)

All Saints vs. Eustace, 12:30 p.m.

Saginaw vs. Whitehouse, 1:45 p.m.

Saginaw vs. Eustace, 3 p.m.

All Saints vs. Whitehouse, 4:15 p.m.

All Saints vs. Saginaw, 5:30 p.m.

Eustace vs. Whitehouse, 6:45 p.m.

—

SATURDAY’S SCHEDULE

Championship Bracket

(at Lion’s Den, JTHS)

First Round

Rusk vs. TBD, 8 a.m.

Beckville vs. TBD, 9 a.m.

Hallsville vs. TBD, 10 a.m.

Pleasant Grove vs. TBD, 11 a.m.

Semifinals

First round winners, 1 p.m.

Firstr round winners, 3 p.m.

Consolation Semifinals

First round losers, noon

First round losers, 2 p.m.

Consolation Final

Consolation semifinal winners, 4 p.m.

Third-Place Match

Semifinal losers, 5 p.m.

Championship

Semifinal winners, 6 p.m.

—

Gold Bracket

(at Varsity Gym, REL)

First Round

Longview vs. TBD, 8 a.m.

Robert E. Lee vs. TBD, 9 a.m.

Central Heights vs. TBD, 10 a.m.

New Diana vs. TBD, 11 a.m.

Semifinals

First round winners, 1 p.m.

Firstr round winners, 3 p.m.

Consolation Semifinals

First round losers, noon

First round losers, 2 p.m.

Consolation Final

Consolation semifinal winners, 4 p.m.

Third-Place Match

Semifinal losers, 5 p.m.

Championship

Semifinal winners, 6 p.m.

—

Silver Bracket

(at JV Gym, JTHS)

First Round

North Lamar vs. TBD, 8 a.m.

Tatum vs. TBD, 9 a.m.

Chapel Hill vs. TBD, 10 a.m.

Mabank vs. TBD, 11 a.m.

Semifinals

First round winners, 1 p.m.

Firstr round winners, 3 p.m.

Consolation Semifinals

First round losers, noon

First round losers, 2 p.m.

Consolation Final

Consolation semifinal winners, 4 p.m.

Third-Place Match

Semifinal losers, 5 p.m.

Championship

Semifinal winners, 6 p.m.

—

Bronze Bracket

(at K Gym, REL)

First Round

Nacogdoches vs. TBD, 8 a.m.

Sulphur Springs vs. TBD, 9 a.m.

Henderson vs. TBD, 10 a.m.

Marshall vs. TBD, 11 a.m.

Semifinals

First round winners, 1 p.m.

Firstr round winners, 3 p.m.

Consolation Semifinals

First round losers, noon

First round losers, 2 p.m.

Consolation Final

Consolation semifinal winners, 4 p.m.

Third-Place Match

Semifinal losers, 5 p.m.

Championship

Semifinal winners, 6 p.m.